Christa Pike returns to Tennessee prison after surviving execution attempt

Christa Pike was discharged from hospital and returned to a Tennessee prison in Nashville on Saturday, October 10, her lawyers said. The 50-year-old survived the state’s September 30 attempt to execute her by lethal injection. Her return to custody marks a change in her recovery, but her attorneys say she still needs medical care and they will continue to monitor her condition.

Pike is back at the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she had been held for more than 30 years before the execution attempt, according to a statement from attorneys Stephen Ferrell, Luke Ihnen, Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason reported by CBS News. The attorneys thanked the first responders and medical team who cared for her. Their statement did not specify what treatment she is receiving at the prison.

How Christa Pike’s recovery was reported

Tennessee attempted to execute Pike on September 30. Her attorneys said she survived after receiving two doses of pentobarbital and was taken to hospital. The available reports do not establish why the procedure failed. They also do not provide a complete medical account of the effects of the drugs, so the lawyers’ updates are the basis for the reported changes in her condition.

CBS News reported that Pike’s lawyers said she had regained consciousness and was speaking from her hospital bed by Tuesday, October 6. The next day, the lawyers said she had begun taking limited steps with assistance. Those updates preceded Saturday’s announcement that she had left hospital; neither report says that her recovery is complete.

What the court ordered after the failed execution

Pike’s lawyers went to a Davidson County court on Wednesday, October 7, seeking to preserve evidence from the attempted execution. CBS reported that the court ordered the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve records and other evidence related to the failed lethal injection. The order protects material that may help establish what happened during the procedure; the reporting does not establish its technical cause.

Before the attempt, the Tennessee Department of Correction had announced an execution scheduled for 10 a.m. Central time on September 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. That August advisory concerned arrangements for media witnesses. It documents the state’s planned date and venue, but contains no explanation of the later medical outcome or of any future decision about Pike’s sentence.

Pike’s sentence and the question of another execution

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of her classmate Colleen Slemmer. Al Jazeera’s Associated Press report describes Slemmer’s killing as a beating and stabbing. Pike’s return to prison does not resolve the status of that sentence. Her lawyers have asked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute it to life in prison without parole, CBS reported; the retained reports establish no decision by the governor.

At the October 7 hearing, attorney Luke Ihnen said the state had made no promise that Pike would not face another execution, according to CBS. That statement describes the uncertainty facing Pike after her return to custody. The reports do not establish whether Tennessee intends to seek another execution or when a decision about commutation could be made.

The move follows earlier reports that Pike was conscious and speaking after the attempt. Saturday’s development is that she has left hospital and is again in prison, while her lawyers say her care and recovery continue. The court’s evidence preservation order and the request for commutation are separate unresolved parts of the case.